NEW DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS DEFINING COMMON INTEREST

S E C R E T SEOUL 000455

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2018
TAGS: MARR PGOV PINS PREL KN KS
SUBJECT: NEW DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS DEFINING COMMON INTEREST
IS KEY TO STRONGER ALLIANCE

Classified By: AMB. ALEXANDER VERSHBOW. REASONS 1.4 (b/d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Ambassador held his first official
meeting on March 7 with Lee Sang-hee, the new ROK Minister of
National Defense. They engaged in a one-hour discussion that
focused on the strategic importance and future role of the
U.S.-ROK Alliance.

-- The Ambassador congratulated Minster Lee on his
appointment and praised his extensive military and policy
credentials.

-- Minister Lee related that he had just spoken by telephone
with Secretary Gates and that they had agreed it was
important to utilize the U.S.-ROK presidential summit in
April to highlight that the alliance has an important role to
play in the future security of the region.

-- Lee conveyed his own view that the alliance must transcend
the North Korea issue to focus on regional security concerns
and further contribute to world peace.

-- The Ambassador stressed that the USG considers global
transformation of its military posture to be a key defense
priority and asked for Minister Lee's full support for the
changes that impact U.S. Forces Korea. He voiced the U.S.
desire to work with the ROK to expand the role of the
alliance in addressing regional and global security concerns.

-- Minster Lee stressed the importance to the alliance of
developing a common set of interests, saying that if the two
presidents can voice a clear consensus the alliance will
truly stand strong.

-- Lee said many failed to realize that the U.S. presence in
Korea should be permanent and pointed out that the stable
stationing of U.S. forces on the peninsula would be important
to implementing our future bilateral security strategy. He
advised the U.S. utilize its presence in Korea to check the
rise of China while managing Japan as well.

-- The Minister proposed resurrecting the Big 4 dialogue
between the Ambassador, the USFK Commander, the MOFAT
Minister and the Minister of National Defense.

-- In a side discussion, Lee clearly stated that the ROKG
position on the transfer of wartime operational control
(OPCON) was that it should move forward as agreed while the
U.S. and ROK would continue to carefully assess progress on
implementation and the security situation. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) On March 7, the Ambassador paid his first office call
on Lee Sang-hee, the new ROK Minister of National Defense.
The two engaged in an hour-long discussion that focused on
the strategic importance and future role of the U.S.-ROK
Alliance. The Ambassador congratulated Lee who had assumed
his new cabinet position one week earlier and welcomed him
back to a leading role in formulating U.S.-ROK security
policy. Lee recalled their previous meetings when he was ROK
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and said he had
attended a speech the Ambassador had given at SAIS in
Washington. The Ambassador praised Lee's extensive military
and policy credentials, commenting that he thought the
alliance was in very good hands. Lee modestly replied that
while he was very familiar with aspects of alliance
management, he was only partially acquainted with other newer
developments, and was still in the process of determining the
direction of the new ROK administration.

--------------
TELCON WITH SECRETARY GATES
--------------


3. (C) Minister Lee told the Ambassador that he had spoken
by telephone earlier in the morning with Secretary of Defense
Gates. He said they had agreed on utilizing the April
U.S.-ROK presidential summit to highlight the fact that the
alliance has an important role to play in the security of the
region -- a role that will be as vital in the future as it

has been in the past. Lee conveyed his view that the
alliance must transcend the North Korea issue to focus on
regional security concerns and to contribute further to world
peace. He said he had explained to Secretary Gates that he
would be unable to accompany President Lee Myung-bak to Camp
David for the summit owing to a security practice that does
note allow both the commander-in-chief and defense minister
to be outside the country at the same time. However, he said
he hoped to visit Washington soon after to meet with the
SECDEF and continue their discussion in more depth.

--------------
ALLIANCE TRANSFORMATION: FORWARD HO!
--------------


4. (C) The Ambassador began by stressing that the U.S.
Government considers its worldwide transformation under the
Global Posture Review to be a key defense priority, and that
the transformation of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) was an
important part of that. He noted that a good start had been
made on implementing alliance transformation through the
Yongsan Relocation Plan and Land Partnership Plan together
with the transfer of additional military responsibilities to
the ROK. He asked that Minister Lee firmly support their
completion.


5. (S) NOTE: In a brief side discussion after their formal
meeting had ended, Lee stated that the ROKG position on the
transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) was as he had
stated in his confirmation hearing: that it should continue
to move forward, as agreed, to execution of the transfer on
April 17, 2012, while the U.S. and ROK would continue to
assess progress on implementation and the security situation
along the way. The Ambassador thanked him, noting that his
statement reflected the U.S. position as well. END NOTE.

--------------
VISION OF AN EXPANDED GLOBAL ROLE
--------------


6. (C) The Ambassador went on to stress the U.S. desire to
work with the ROK to define and expand the global role of the
alliance in addressing other regional and global security
concerns, and to advocate a continued U.S. security presence
on the Korean Peninsula beyond the peaceful settlement of
hostilities with the DPRK. During the comprehensive
discussion that followed, Minster Lee echoed the importance
of envisioning the future of the Korean Peninsula and
developing a common bilateral understanding of how the
alliance could continue to advance our shared interests. We
should work to upgrade the alliance from one that is military
in nature to one that transcends that by adopting a more
strategic approach for achieving our mutual interest, Lee
urged. He said he expected that our two presidents would
focus on U.S.-ROK common interests during their April summit
meeting. He added that if the two leaders voice a clear
consensus about our common interests to our respective
publics and legislatures, the alliance will truly stand
strong. History has taught us that narrow interests only
lead to tension and discord, Lee said. Defining our common
interests is the key to a strong alliance because the pursuit
of mutual interests builds trust and trust is the foundation
from which we can better pursue our common goals.


7. (C) Minster Lee and the Ambassador agreed that both the
American and Korean publics held widely varying views of the
reality of Korea today and the role of the alliance both now
and in the future. Some still regarded Korea as it was
during the Korean War. Others still see things as they were
ten or twenty years ago. The better informed understand the
situation as it truly is today. Because there is such a
multitude of perceptions, it is important that we educate our
publics so that we can see each other as we truly are, Lee
said. He and the Ambassador agreed that it would be
important to the well-being of the alliance to foster a
clearer public understanding of its broader mission. They
both pointed to the April summit meeting at Camp David as an
excellent opportunity to talk about our common interests,
highlight our shared values, and reacquaint our publics with

the great importance of the alliance, while also helping them
see that the U.S. security presence on the Korean Peninsula
has long-term value beyond simply deterring the North Korean
threat.

--------------
SUMMIT DECLARATION
--------------


8. (C) Reflecting previous high-level U.S.-ROK discussions,
the Ambassador recommended a general alliance vision
statement be developed for the April summit (to encompass
economic and people-to-people cooperation as well as defense
links) which Minister Lee could then follow up on in more
detail when he meets with Secretary Gates later in the
spring. Lee agreed, saying he thought it was important that
the summit establish a future framework for the overall
U.S.-ROK relationship that would guide our two governments
regardless of future changes in U.S. or ROK administrations.

--------------
STRATEGIC DISCUSSION
--------------


9. (C) Minister Lee related that he had talked with many
Americans during the time he spent in the United States, last
year, and he had found that the strategic importance of the
Korean Peninsula was not fully understood. He believed that
the continuation of both Northeast Asian alliances -
U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK - was necessary to maintain and
further enhance the security of the region. He thought the
United States was most concerned about the rise of China, but
that Washington tended to view Northeast Asia only in terms
of Japan and China, while ignoring the importance of
maintaining a permanent U.S. military presence on the Korean
Peninsula. He said many Americans failed to realize that the
U.S. presence in Korea should be permanent and cautioned
against those who sought to pit Japan against China, saying
that would be harmful to the region. It would be wiser for
the United States to utilize its presence on the Korean
Peninsula to check the rise of China while managing Japan as
well, Lee continued. For the same reason, he felt that if
Korea were to be reunified, the importance of the U.S.
presence would actually increase exponentially. This logic
was based on an understanding that the USG had a vested
interest in peace and stability in the region and would
continue to foster that outcome by serving as a balancing
power in the region, Lee explained.


10. (C) The Ambassador agreed that the U.S. presence in the
Korean Peninsula played an important role in helping to
maintain equilibrium in the region as China rises and Japan
becomes more of a normal power. He agreed that the ROK-U.S.
alliance and the U.S. troop presence were underappreciated
and suggested that the start of a new Korean administration
offered an opportunity for the U.S. and ROK to think more
about the longer-term mission of the alliance. We were glad
to have Minister Lee as a committed partner in that
discussion. Lee acknowledged that the stable stationing of
U.S. forces in Korea would be important to implementing our
future bilateral security strategy. Indicating that he
appreciated the importance to the USG of completing its
global military transformation, Lee pointed out that the ROK
was aiding that effort through YRP and LPP by creating an
atmosphere that would encourage the stable positioning of
U.S. forces for the future. To that end, he said he thought
that USFK Commander General B.B. Bell's push for
normalization of tours of duty for U.S. servicemembers (from
one-year unaccompanied tours to three-year tours with
families) was an excellent idea. The Ambassador thanked
Minister Lee for his support, commenting that he and General
Bell would welcome his assistance in educating those in our
Congress who remain unconvinced.

--------------
CALL TO RECONVENE THE BIG FOUR
--------------


11. (C) Minister Lee recalled the usefulness of the 2-plus-2

or Big 4 dialogue of the past (which included the Ambassador,
USFK Commander, MOFAT Minister and MND Minister) and proposed
that they be reinstituted. The ambassador said he supported
the idea, at least on an ad hoc basis, and offered to host
the first one at his residence, but asked if Lee had
discussed it with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan. Lee
replied that he had yet to do so but that he intended to talk
to him about it very soon.


12. (C) NOTE: Lee may find that a hard sell as high-level
MOFAT contacts have told us that they oppose the meetings
because, while they were appropriate in times of heightened
tension with the North, it would not be particularly useful
to reestablish them today. END NOTE.


13. (C) The Ambassador suggested that if such a meeting were
held it might be appropriate to use it as a means of
brainstorming on the future evolution of the alliance, as
well as providing a means to coordinate our respective public
affairs messages about alliance issues.

--------------
SWAPPING GRAY FOR GREEN
--------------


14. (C) A former general in the ROK Army, Lee Sang-hee
concluded the meeting by saying that the had made many great
American friends while he was still in uniform, but that now
that he had put away his medals and was wearing a business
suit he looked forward to building equally close relations
with American civilian leaders. He said the work ethic of
the new ROK administration was to start early and burn the
midnight oil. Furthermore, he was particularly busy in the
lead-up to the April 9 elections helping his president gain a
working majority in the National Assembly. Nevertheless, Lee
declared that he wanted to meet with the U.S. Ambassador on a
regular basis so as to further broaden their bilateral
discussion on the future of the U.S.-ROK Alliance and the
betterment of the U.S.-ROK relations as a whole.
VERSHBOW